Comma-separated value (CSV) files are files that contain data from a table listed in plain text form, such as email contact details. Although CSV files can be opened with many programs, like text editors, the data they contain is best viewed using a spreadsheet program, such as Microsoft Excel, OpenOffice Calc, or Google Sheets. You will need to select “Open” from the “File” menu, select the CSV file, and then adjust the delimiter settings if the data isn’t displaying correctly. Similar steps can be used for Google Sheets, but require you to upload files to Google’s servers. Keep your data organized and tidy!

Steps

Method1

Microsoft Excel

1

Launch Microsoft Excel on your computer.

2

Click the “File” menu and select “Open”. This menu is in the upper left corner and will open a window to browse for files on your computer.

You can also press Ctrl + O (Windows) or ⌘ Cmd + O (Mac) to perform the same action.

3

Select a CSV file and press “Open”. The file will open and display in a new Excel spreadsheet.

4

Click on the “Data” tab to access the “Text to Columns” wizard (optional). If Excel displays all text from the CSV file in a single column, this will allow excel to better parse the data. The Data tab is located in the top menu bar and will display a set of data-specific options.

If you only want to split certain columns, click and drag the cursor to highlight the columns you want split.

5

Click “Text to Columns”. This button is one of the options in the data tab and will open the “Text to Columns” wizard.

6

Select the “Delimited” option, then click on “Next.” A delimiter sets a boundary between data points in a text file (in this case, the comma).[1]

7

Select the “Comma” checkbox then click on “Finish.” All the text that was previously separated by commas will now be placed in separate, individual columns.[2]

Method2

OpenOffice Calc

1

Download and open OpenOffice Calc. Select your operating system from the dropdown menu and press “Download”. Run the installer and select which office The OpenOffice products you want to include in the installation. The only one you will need to open CSV files is OpenOffice Calc.

OpenOffice is free software.

2

Click on the “File” menu and select “Open.” This menu is in the upper left corner and will open a window to browse for files on your computer.

3

Select a CSV file and press “Open”. The file will open in spreadsheet program OpenOffice Calc.[3]

4

Click on the “Data” menu and select “Text to Columns” (optional). If OpenOffice calc is not properly separating the data, then you can set the delimiter yourself[4]. The Data menu is located in the top menu bar.

If you only want to split certain columns, click and drag the cursor to highlight the columns you want split.

5

Select the “Separate By” radio button. This is located under the “Separator Options” header.

6

Select the “Comma” checkbox then click “OK”. All the text that was previously separated by commas will now be placed in separate, individual columns.[5]

Method3

Google Sheets

Google Sheets is free, but you must have a Google account to it. If you don’t have a Google account, click on “Create Account” and follow the on-screen prompts to create a Google username and password.

Google Sheets can also be utilized through its parent product, Google Drive.

2

Click on “Open File Picker”. This button is represented by a folder icon and appears in the top right corner of the page. This will open the “Open a File” window.

3

Click the “Upload” Tab. This will take you to an interface to upload your CSV file.

4

Drag and drop the CSV file into the upload window. A progress bar will appear once the upload has started.

Alternately, you can click the “Select file to upload” button in the middle of the upload window and browse for the CSV file on your computer.

5

Wait for the CSV file to upload. When complete, the file will be automatically opened by Google Sheets.

This process may take a few seconds to a few minutes depending on the size of the file.

Google Sheets will automatically separate all data from CSV files with the comma delimiter.

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